It is well known that undesirable and costly polymerization is a significant problem during the manufacturing of various vinyl monomers, particularly vinyl aromatic compounds, such as styrene. Many kinds of inhibitors have been used in the past to minimize this problem. For instance, inhibitors such as diethylhydroxylamine, phenyl-p-phenylenediamines, tert-butyl catechol, and phenothiazine have been used to control polymer formation. During the early 1980s, compounds selected from the groups called alkyl-substituted di-nitro-phenols and nitroso-phenols found widespread use in the styrene industry. However, because such compounds also functioned as insecticides or were dangerous to handle, their use has been discouraged by environmental and government agencies.
Recently, a new class of compounds called stable free radicals is being investigated to replace the nitrophenol products. Although stable free radicals are effective on monomer polymerization, their current cost makes them unattractive. It would be desirable if a composition and method could be devised to overcome some of the problems in using the stable free radical polymerization inhibitors.